chrstphr

Kotetsu was once handed a sword. He replied " the sword is mine, the signature is not." Even his unsigned swords had fake signatures. 11 out of 10 being fake is pretty accurate. Chris

the tsuka ito is pretty terrible. Definitely detracts from the package. I would also guess shinshinto or later. Chris

according to that video, and various newspaper articles, jewel encrusted swords from Saudi Arabia were stolen. Gifts from the Saudi crown prince. Nothing mentioned about a Japanese sword. I would assume the Masamune sword was not on display. This article does give some detail on the Koshirae of the Masamune sword and a gold carved authentication. https://fox4kc.com/news/offbeat/the-case-of-the-missing-swords-from-the-harry-s-truman-presidential-library-museum/ Chris

Do you have contact for Woody? Woody would have opinion on to send for a shirasaya in the USA? Chris

comment #22 Chris

thank you. Someone posted on here in another thread that Mike damaged his sword. Not sure i am comfortable using him. My choices are looking slim to none. Chris

Who in the states makes shirasayas? Aside from Fred Lohman. I looked at photos of ones he offered on his website and i wasnt impressed with the quality. I messaged John Tirado on Instagram but so far he has not responded. I would prefer to have the sword back within 8 months as well. Chris

Chris

Why would many not trust the shinsa team coming to SF to do the shinsa? I am going and have not heard anyone say the NTHK wasnt to be trusted. You dont trust them with your blades? Or you dont trust them to give a good evaluation of your blades? Not following what is to mistrust. Chris

Chris

"glueing" as you say is not a reason to remove the patina on the nakago. I suspect the glue is something someone did again not familiar with nihonto and it's more recent. Like in the past 20 years or so. Someone mucked about with this and it wasnt 100 years ago. And in Japan, they never clean the furniture, or koshirae. They love patina. Sanding a nakago in Japan wouldnt be considered 144 years ago. Its a huge no no even today. However, this is just my opinion. Chris

In my opinion, If the cleaning of the nakago was done several hundred years ago, it would have some patina by now even in the tsuka. I expect this cleaning has been in the past 20 years or so by someone not experienced with nihonto. No one back in the period would have a reason to clean the nakago. There isnt any point to cleaning it. Only currently do people think you should sand a sword thats several hundred years old to make it look shiny and new. I also do not think this is Koto or Muromachi. I think it is later. Not trying to bash the sword, just giving what i see from the photos. I agree you have nothing to lose opening up a window to see the hamon. Chris

Regardless of the era, someone sanded the entire blade including removing all the patina from the nakago. In my opinion, this one is pretty much ruined and probably not fixable due to the cost outweighing the end worth. The file marks on the nakago look like the leftover damage from the sanding to remove the patina. Chris

I have a mino senjuin sword and have done quite a bit of research on the school over the past decade or so. The one you show i think is later muromachi ( the school was 1390-1550 ish) since it appears to be ubu. The earlier ones are all cut down from tachi length. I have only found a handful of mino senjuin swords that were for sale online over the past 20 years. I have saved each one on my computer to reference as they are uncommon to find. Few extant swords survive from the Mino Senjuin school. In the late Nambokucho both schools, Mino Senjuin and Fujishima were the leading swordsmiths. ( The Connoisseur's book of Japanese Swords, page 60). Also on page 166 the book lists the Akasaka Senjuin school as a Nambokucho school and a Muromachi school. An interesting note that is rarely mentioned, Go Yoshihiro ( argueably the best student of Masamune) taught his son Tametsugu until his early death around 1330. Then his son apprenticed under Norishige ( another Masamune student). Eventually Tametsugu moved to the Mino Senjuin area and made swords there. He moved to the Akasaka area sometime between 1369 and 1374. He lived 1315 ish to 1380 ish. So there is a Masamune connection for the school. There is a sword made by Kuninaga who founded the Mino Senjuin school that is dated to around 1350 thought the school is started 1380 ish. So both schools are close in time for founding. Many people think that the Mino Senjuin school is later but that is due to the few surviving swords left. The school started in the late Nambokucho era, but the founder was making swords in the early to mid Nambokucho. personally i would go with the one that has more activity. Chris

https://nthkamerica.com/ Chris